Olson fine-tunes Carr’s footwork, raves about Rivera

Sat down with Raiders offensive coordinator Greg Olson and a couple other reporters before lunch today. Olson is very pleased with how the first seven practices of camp have gone and that there have been no significant injuries.
“We added to our playmakers, beefed up our front and added more stability to our quarterback room,” Olson said. “That should lead to better results.”
Olson loves the intelligence and accuracy of quarterbacks Matt Schaub, Derek Carr and Matt McGloin and said he threw the whole playbook at them “and they haven’t blinked.” (He would have included Trent Edwards, he said, but the fourth-stringer hasn’t gotten any reps at camp yet.)
The Raiders have widened Carr’s base when he throws, improving the rookie’s footwork.
“The ball is getting out quicker,” Olson said. “His drop-step was way too high and now he is keeping both feet on the ground. He has great upper-body mechanics and now he is much more balanced.”
Olson said that second-year tight end Mychal Rivera is “one of the guys that has shown the most improvement at camp.”
“He looks more athletic, he’s stronger, more confident,” Olson said. “I said to him the other day that there is a little bit more swagger to him.”
Olson doesn’t know if Rivera — currently behind David Ausberry on the depth chart — will ever be a great blocker, “but he will be an efficient blocker.”
Olson also said there hasn’t been any separation at the receiver position yet. “We are going to spread the football around.”
When he was rolling off playmakers, Olson mentioned (in order) fullback Marcel Reece, running backs Darren McFadden and Maurice Jones-Drew and receivers Rod Streater, Greg Little and Andre Holmes.